


The Scent of Chocolate & Roses

by tinyclockworkprincess



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Adoptive family, Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying (past/present), Dorks in Love, Eventual Smut, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Found Family, Girls Kissing, Just so much gay stuff because I love them, Light Angst, Love, Love Confessions, Love Poems, M/M, Minor Character Deaths (mentioned), Nearly Everyone is Gay, Romance, Secret Admirer, Secret Crush, Useless Lesbians, grief and moving on, lots of gay feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:35:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24575410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyclockworkprincess/pseuds/tinyclockworkprincess
Summary: For Aline Penhallow, High school is the worst. One top of it all, someone has been leaving secret notes in her locker. She wishes more than anything that they would just come forward, but the mystery admirer has proved elusive and she's running out of ideas.All Aline knows is that the letters all have one specific scent: Chocolate and roses.A Heline Love Story
Relationships: Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Helen Blackthorn/Aline Penhallow, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood (only mentioned), Tessa Gray/Catarina Loss
Kudos: 34





	1. Who are You?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for taking some time to read my fanfiction!  
> This is my second fanfic and first multichap.
> 
> I once again have to thank the amazing @Allie_enigma for betaing and giving me some very useful and helpful tips <3  
> Please check out her amazing fanfictions as well.
> 
> Before you keep reading:  
> I love all of the the Blackthorns but wanted some drama for this one.  
> Please be aware of chapter warnings as this fic does contain some minor elements of character death and mental health issues.
> 
> I also chose the Heline ship because I have so much love for Helen and Aline! <3  
> I also love Tessa and wanted her in my Fanfiction! You'll also find her in many more future fics!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you <3
> 
> Find me in Twitter @thatwasuseless

Chapter 1: Who are you

Aline’s Pov

High school. One of the greatest pains of Aline’s existence. Aline Penhallow hated High school, not only because she was the “New kid”, but also, that it now meant getting up early and being lectured all day in classes she didn’t enjoy. One top of all the exhausting activities of the day, she also knew that she would have to attend cheerleader training.

Lost in her thoughts, she ran out of the door with her half eaten breakfast, only momentarily running back to grab her prized photograph of her and her friends that she always carried for good luck.

When she had first started attending this new school, she had been dubbed the official ‘new kid’ by her entire year group. She just moved to the area and was the typical joining-late-into-the-year- when-everyone-else-already knows-one-another student, but thanks to her interest in sport, she found a nice group pretty quickly. Although her idea of joining the sports students certainly hadn’t included the idea of being in the cheerleading group but unfortunately, the Coach had told her it was too late in the year to join in with the basketball team. 

_ ‘Ass..,’ _ she had mumbled angrily. 

Aline hated cheerleading, but her Mother always dreamed of being one; having the athletic ability and the natural camaraderie that often came with it. When Aline had told her Mother, Jia, that she had joined the team, Jia had nearly started crying from joy.

_ “What you do to make your Mom happy, eh?” _ Aline sighed as she stared at the picture in her hands. On it was Jace Herondale, the smooth and flirty guy that could always be counted on to run laps with. Alec Lightwood, shy and sometimes slightly jealous, but extremely protective of those who he held close to him. Magnus Bane, Alec’s boyfriend, who had excellent taste in sweets and even more excellent taste in fashion. Isabelle Lightwood, best friends with Clary Fairchild. Both very beautiful and kind women who had welcomed Aline into the cheerleading team. Last but not least, Simon Lewis. Aline’s all time favorite nerd and comic book dealer.

Aline smiled, starting to think that maybe school wasn’t all that bad after all. She was glad that she had been able to make some new and loyal friends over the years.

Alec had been Aline’s first friend in her new school. She met him at the beginning of everything, when the school was giant and terrifying. She had been desperately looking for the Principal’s office. Alec had offered to take her and during the walk, they had chatted and become friends quickly. He had then introduced her to his half sibling, Jace, and his sister, Isabelle. Magnus and Clary joined their little gang a year later but it had admittedly taken another eight months of staring before Aline had finally encouraged Alec to ask him out on a date.

_ “Oh, Alec.” _ Aline giggled and as she heard a familiar voice, put the picture back inside her locker.

“Lost in thoughts again?” A young Man with raven black Hair leaned against the lockers and smiled at her mischievously. 

“Kinda! Can’t believe we stepped into another new year!” She grinned as she twisted her combination lock and glanced at Magnus. “Thought I wouldn't pass but I’m glad I did!”

Aline was definitely not an A+ student, but thanks to Magnus’ expert tutoring, she had passed her exams with good enough grades to both stay with her friends and make her parents pleased. 

“What is that?” Magnus pointed to Aline’s text book with a painted nail. A small piece of paper stuck out from the edge.

“Oh,” Aline said quietly, “It’s another one of those letters that I keep getting from that anonymous person. I must say that with each month, their poem’s are getting even better!”

Magnus laughed in amusement, raising his eyebrows.

Over the past nine months, Aline had been receiving small letters with beautifully handwritten poem’s. Own creations from her anonymous admirer. There weren't any signatures, so she still didn’t have a clue who it could be.

“It’s one of those poem’s again, look.” She pulled the paper out with a sigh. As much as she loved receiving them, it had been going on a long while and she would have just loved to know who was leaving them. The only clue had found so far was that the paper always smelled like a mixture of roses and chocolate. A strange mixture, but she liked it. 

Before Magnus could say anything, Jace came screaming down the hallway. 

“Magnus!! OH!” He stopped for a short moment, just before he barrelled into the two others. “Aline!” He screamed half out of breath. “ALINE!” 

“Yes, we heard you the first time!” Magnus shouted back.

“Wow, no need to scream!” Jace joked and slapped his friend’s shoulder. Aline and Magnus stared back through the following silence, waiting until Jace remembered what he had wanted to say. “Oh! Aline! Yeah! Remember when you said you were too scared to ask Kyle out for the ball in two weeks?” He spoke through heavy breaths.

“Yess..?” Aline answered carefully. 

“Well, I know you were nervous to ask him, so I did it for you!” Jace spoke proudly with a big smile on his face; His typical stupid, charming Herondale smile. “And he said yes!” 

“Uh.. Thanks, I guess?” Aline gulped and tried to fake a smile. Kyle was part of the football team and reluctant friends with Jace. He was actually a very nice guy, if you could look past the fact that their friends had tried to set them up before to no success, and that he had tried getting into her pants after that very first, and very much last, date. Aline didn’t really like him that much, if at all. She had purely agreed to a date with him because she knew that her father, Patrick, would never have accepted her with a woman. She remembered trying to tell him the first time, and it ended in a pure disaster, so Aline had cooled it off by telling him it had just been a joke. She hadn’t tried to tell her mother after that. Deep down, it made her feel trapped, locked in and utterly sad. 

“Aline? Are you okay?” Magnus asked with concern in his voice. 

Before anyone could say anything else, the bell rang. Aline had never been happier to hear it. “See ya later guys!” she waved them goodbye and sprinted outside. 

  
  


•••

  
  


As usual, Aline snuck out behind the school and sat down against the big old Tree. 

Aline had always gone there to calm down. A place just for her where she could take a small nap or read her admirer’s wonderful poem’s. 

_ With the rise and fall of the tides each day, the sun and moon remain apart. _

_ Dear love, how it hurts to be away from you, until I can offer up my heart. _

_ But, when that day’s upon us, love, and sunlight meets with stars, _

_ you'll finally know my heart, my love, and infinity shall be ours. _

Aline smiled. She felt her heart do its typical little flip that it always did whenever she read one of the admirer’s poem’s. 

Her curiosity, who this stranger was, overweighed everything. 

‘ _ Who are you..?’ _ she whispered to herself.

Was it possible to fall for someone you have never seen? To fall for someone purely because their writing just touched your heart? 

She shook her head. No matter who it was, Aline doubted that they would reveal themself. 

She rested her head against the tree gently, looking up to see the clouds that were softly passing by. Suddenly, Aline remembered that she’d been given a clue to who it could be. The time when Kyle had picked her up for their second date, it had been raining. Aline had wondered if that had been a bad sign for their first date at the time. It had actually been for a school event, not a date anywhere fancy, but Kyle asked her to come with him so she had said yes.

As they had walked to his car, Aline had noticed a flower bouquet and a small letter in the trash can. Aline blinked as the memory flooded back to her. She had tried to forget everything about that night

She had wondered who it was for so long but had never made the connection between that night and the note in her hand. The first thought that crossed her mind was that it was Kyle who had been leaving her letters. Then she thought again that he definitely wouldn’t be the type to bring her flowers or write poetry. The wet piece of paper had all but nearly washed away unfortunately, and she’d never been able to read it in total, but a few words had been visible and she could bring forth a vision of it even now.

_ “Aline, I thought ~~~~~~~~~~~ so I was brave  _

_ ~~~~~~~~~Forgive me~~~~~~ My star, you ~~ _

_ I wish ~~~ could~~~ maybe ~~~~ go ~~~ _ _  
_ _  
_ _ ~~~H~~~~~~ ”  _

It dawned on her. The last line! It hadn’t been a single letter! H! A name! It was signed once with a name! She sat up sharply. But there were a hundred different names with H, female, male and gender neutral, so while it was a start, it didn’t help much.

But… since she had found it in the trashcan... maybe her admirer had seen her and Kyle and given up? She didn’t get a poem for more than two months after that, until it had started again. Aline had finally been happy again. She loved the notes and she had missed them. They made her happy. 

She let out a long, loud sigh, and buried her head in her hands. “H… who are you..?” She whispered. 

“Maybe they haven’t wanted to show themselves after they felt rejected,” an unknown female voice said behind her. 

Aline looked up and around. There was no one standing next to or in front of her. 

“And you are..?” she said with a small amount of annoyance in her voice. This was her little safe spot. No one was supposed to know about it besides her.

The Person chuckled. “No one interesting, but I saw you were bothered about something. My dearest apologies.”

Aline sighed and leaned back against the tree. “Sorry, I just feel horrible right now. I have a date with someone I don’t actually like that much, I get poems from such a wonderful person I don’t know. Why do I still get these? Why don’t they say something?” Aline let out a frustrated groan. “I want to know who that person is, get to know them, you know? How can you even fall for someone you don’t even know?!!” Another frustrated groan. “I’m sorry, you probably don’t really care about this at all.”

A moment of silence passed before the soft voice spoke again. “I understand. If I may say so…” the voice paused and Aline nodded that their opinion was welcome. “I think you should be honest to the person you don’t really like. It seems only fair to not lead them on.” The voice seemed to move around but didn’t dare to come out from behind the tree. “Maybe you know this person already from your past? Maybe it is someone new? Give them time and I’m sure they’ll come forward.” There was a small moment of silence again. “If you are honest with others, maybe your admirer will feel some inspiration and let you know who they are.” The voice continued and chuckled. “Time is an evil thing, but it is necessary, and who knows, maybe it’ll all be worth the wait”

A small breeze stirred up the leaves that had fallen off the tree and Aline caught the scent of chocolate and roses as it danced around her.  _ “It’s her! She’s here!!”  _

“Wait!” Aline jumped up and looked behind the tree, but to her surprise, no one was there. 

“ _ But the voice? The smell? Did I imagine this?”  _ She shook her head. No, she couldn’t have imagined it. It had to have been her admirer! And a woman! With a very calm and wonderful voice. “ _ Fits someone who writes poetry. _ ” Aline chuckled. Now she knew her admirers' voice and one letter of their name.

**H** . 

•••••

  
  


After a long day of school and training, Aline just wanted to fall into her bed and don’t move for the rest of the evening. She stared up at the ceiling, letting out a huff before she pulled out the small box under her bed. 

She opened it gently. Inside were all the poems that she received from  _ her  _ and a small dried flower she had saved from the bouquet in the trash. A peonie. 

She sniffed at the note she gotten that day and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.  _ Chocolate... _ She whispered to herself, placing it inside the box and closing it once again.

Smelling paper and crying over someone she didn’t know. Something Aline definitely never thought she’d see herself doing. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door .

“Come in” 

Jia stuck her head inside the room, giving her daughter a warm smile. “Sweetheart, you left after dinner so quickly.” There was concern in her voice as she slowly entered the room and sat down at the end of Aline’s bed. “You seemed sad,” She paused. “But not just today.”

Aline huffed.  _ “Wow, so now you notice… It’s not like I’ve been suffering for months - no years- but none of you want to listen or accept what I actually want and who I actually want to be.” _

_ “ _ No, I’m okay. Just tired from school.” Aline let her fingers run over the box.  


Jia nodded “What is this?” She pointed to the box in Aline’s lap. “A gift from Kyle?” 

_ Oh no small talk _ \- “No, just some stuff I put in there for another time.” She lied. What if she told her they were love poems from an admirer, a female one? Her mother would tell her father and it wouldn’t end well at all. 

“Mom, I want to break up with Kyle,” she blurted out. She regretted it as soon as it left her mouth. She saw the smile fade on her Mother's face.

“But, why? He seems to like you a lot and-” but Jia couldn’t finish.

“I don’t love him, Mom. He isn’t someone I want to be with.” She sighed. It felt good to let at least something small out, but she also felt bad and guilty now. Her parents liked Kyle and he wasn’t too bad, but there were things Aline definitely didn’t like about him and her feelings weren’t enough anyway. She was finding more and more as time went on that she wasn't attracted to him.

Jia nodded and was quiet for a few seconds before she let out a small sigh. “Well, my dear, I want you to be happy and you know that. If it isn’t Kyle, then there will be another lovely man that can win your heart.” She smiled and gently patted Aline’s leg.  


_ “And what if it’s this woman!’ _ Her mind screamed.  _ “Could it be? I don’t even know her really. Oh, but I want to know her…” _

_ “ _ Thanks, Mom. I don’t want to be rude, but I really just want to sleep now,” Aline said as she set the box to the side.

Jia accepted the answer, not wanting to push her daughter any further since she could see the lack of sleep on her daughter’s face. She gave her a small kiss and left her room. 

Aline was glad to be alone again, letting herself fall back into the Pillows.

_ “Maybe I should write something on the board in class. Maybe she’ll read it and leave a response or something at the tree?”  _ Aline’s mind wandered with a way to get a message to her. A note? A hint that she wants to meet? Should she just beg for a clue?

  
Aline closed her eyes eventually. They were good Ideas. This girl had already done so much. Now it was her turn. In that moment, she decided something.  
She would try everything within her power to find out who  **H** was and ask her out on a date.   
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked it and are excited about the next Chapter <3
> 
> Kudos & Comments are very appreciated


	2. The Boy she Knew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being patient and following my story <3

**  
  
_  
The Previous Morning   
_   
**

  
The sun shone gently through the window, accompanied by a low morning breeze that slipped through the room and gently swirled around the curtains.    
A small figure, a woman with blonde hair, sprawled across a double bed, wrapped in a thin blanket, pillows scattered all around her.   
  
A small cracking noise echoed through the room. She turned her head and the room door opened as a woman stepped inside.    
The woman had beautiful brunette hair, so long that it fell softly down her shoulders and curled on her back. With a soft and loving smile, she moved towards the bed where the small woman was still sprawled out.    
“Helen, it is time to wake up,” the  w oman said, gently sitting down at the edge of the bed, petting the young girl ’ s leg. “You know you can’t stay in bed forever , my sweet child.”   
  
She was met in response by a small huff.   
  
“Come on. I know you’re still upset, but it’s not all that bad.” The older woman tried to cheer her up, petting her leg gently. “I made your favourite breakfast and your siblings are waiting for you too. Come on, you can do this!”    
  
“Alright, Auntie Tessie,” Helen said while she yawned and stretched, trying to unwrap herself from her blanke. She was interrupted with a loud scream of attack and a second later, a young boy with chocolate brown hair was wrapped around Helen’s torso, his little arms hung around her neck.   
“Easy there, Tavvy!” Helen said, hugging her little brother gently. She kissed the top of his head and attempted to get both him and the blanket off her.   
  
“Come on! Pancakes time!” Tavvy said in a squeaky voice, hopping off Helen’s bed before running out of the room again.   
Tessa chuckled and shook her head . “You kids are a blessing. Now, come on.” She petted Helen’s head and left her.   
  
Helen Blackthorn was born the child of Andrew and Eleanor Blackthorn, and over the years had ended up the eldest out of  seven  children. She had originally been one of six siblings; herself, Julian, Drusilla, Livia, Octavian, Tiberius, and Mark. Unfortunately, the peaceful family had been ripped apart one night during the winter. Andrew had lost control over the family car and the tragic event had resulted in the death of her parents, six year old twins Tiberius and Livia, and eleven year old Mark. 

After the events had unfolded, their Aunt, Tessa Gray, had taken in thirteen year old Helen, one year old Octavian, eight year old Julian and four year old Drusilla.    
After the traumatic event, Helen had lost some confidence and It had been hard for her to find friends, especially since they had moved to a new town a year after their lives had forever been changed.

They had lived with Tessa for three years now; two in a completely new town. 

Drusilla was aged seven by now and Julian eleven. Neither had had many problems finding new friends in school and liked the new town. Julian had found a best friend by this point. Emma Carstairs was a sweet girl. Helen had grown to really like her and loved to see her little brother happy again.

They had all had a hard time dealing with the death of their family members, And often still cried while talking and comforting one another. Tavvy had been mostly unaware at the time, as a one year old baby, and now at four, it still wasn’t easy to make him understand. Tessa had often tried to explain sensitively on Tavvy’s level, but Tavvy usually just answered with “But you are my Mommy, aren’t you?” It had caused Tessa to break down in tears a number of times. She missed them all, like the rest did, and hearing her nephew calling her Mother had been hard sometimes. By now though, she was mostly used to it and didn’t mind it.  _ ‘There will be another time to talk him through it better. When he is older,’  _ she had told Helen. 

Helen was happy to live with Tessa. She had always been there for her, and she knew Helen still suffered from past events, from being bullied at her previous school where she had gone through hell. Others had truly made her life miserable there. Losing her parents and half of her siblings had made it even worse.   
It had been hard for her to make a fresh start at a new school. She was quiet, shy, and for most of the people there, very weird. She always had her face in a book, usually sitting somewhere where no one could see her, barely speaking to anyone through the day. Helen had spent most of the school year at home, and only because of her good grades previously, she had been able to pass the year. She had been following this routine for around two years now.   
  


These days, Tessa and Helen often sat down together in the backyard, and had long, deep conversations over warm cups of tea. Tavvy joined them on this occasion and often fell asleep in Helen’s arms.

It was through their daily evening talks that Tessa had come to know of Helen’s secret unconditional love for the  c heerleader Aline Penhallow. 

Aline Penhallow was a beautiful asian woman, her hair black like raven feathers, her eyes as brown as beautiful forest tree bark. Her jaw was sharp and her body moved gracefully. Everything about her made Helen swoon. Everything about her was perfect in Helen’s eyes. They had once been in a  c lass together, working on a  p roject, when two teachers had gotten sick and their classes had merged together. Helen doubted that Aline remembered her, but the moment she had first seen her, she had lost her heart to the beautiful black haired girl. 

Lost in thought, she heard Tessa calling her once again, which snapped her out of her drooling over Aline. 

Helen didn’t hesitate and got ready quickly, grabbing her school bag and making sure her small  l etter was ready. 

The small  l etter was a poem for Aline. Since  nine  months ago, Helen had been sending her love poems since she was too afraid to talk to her or even dared to get close to her. The fear of rejection was too big. 

There had been a short time where she did stop writing her  p oems. It had been raining and she had realised that Aline was taken. Since that day, her heart had broken and ached in pain every time she saw her. 

She had been on her way with a small flower bouquet, a poem, and a heart full of love and courage, to finally tell Aline who she was, but as soon as she had gotten there, she had seen Aline with a young man in front of her  d oor. 

Broken hearted, she had thrown the bouquet and the  l etter in the garbage can, and raced home with her heart broken in a thousand pieces.

She had spent the whole day crying in Tessa’s arms, hearing her soothing words; telling her that it would all be okay. 

After a while and lots of talking with Tessa, Helen had gathered the courage to writeAline a new  p oem. It was time to finally give her another one. 

  
  


••• 

  
  


“There she is! The Princess who loves to let me wait!” Tessa joked as she put the last of the baked pancakes onto Helen’s plate.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry!” she mumbled and immediately stuffed a piece of pancake in her mouth.

Julian and Dru had already left for  s chool since both of them liked to meet up with their friends and chat before going inside. Helen would have loved to do that too, but it remained just as a thought inside her head. 

Tavvy sat next to Helen, happily chewing on his  p ancake.

“So, what about Catarina? Did you and her finally take the next  s tep?” Helen asked curiously. 

For four months now, Tessa had been dating a lovely Nurse named Catarina. She had met her several times since bringing Helen to therapy in the hospital. Catarina worked part time on the front desk there and it had taken months for Tessa to finally ask her on a date.    
To Helen, Catarina was one of the sweetest women she had ever met, and she couldn’t imagine a better  p erson to stand by Tessie’s side. Helen knew Catarina had an adopted son, but since he was usually busy with his friend, she had never had an opportunity to meet him. 

The only thing she knew was that he went to her school and that Catarina had taken him in when he was seven years old. From what she had gathered, his  f ather had died in a fire and his  m om had died when he was born. 

“About that..,” Tessa said as she sat down to the  K ids. “They have to move out of their  a partment since it has bad  w ater  d amage. The Landlord is refusing to repair the damages in several  a partments of the building,” Tessa sighed. “So they have to move out. Her  b rother, Ragnor, can’t take them in so...” Tessa stared into her coffee  c up. “I… told them they could stay here until they get sorted.”   
  


“Did you ask Dru and Julien?” She got a nod as an answer.

“They’re  ok with it. But it was more important for me to know if you are,” Tessa said carefully. 

She knew Helen didn’t like change.   
  
Helen sat there quietly for a moment. It would mean two new  m embers in the house; one a young man, a stranger, she didn’t know.   
As uncomfortable as it was for her, she could see in Tessa’s eyes that she wished to have Catarina there with her. They had barely had time to see each other since Tessa had also gone back to work.    
Helen admired their love. Every time she saw them together, Catarina and Tessa looked at each other and their eyes were full of love. It was like they were meant to be with each other. What kind of  n iece would she be to say no to her beloved  a untie? 

  
“Of course, Auntie. I’m sure it will be okay. Right, tavvy?” She smiled softly at Tessa.  _ “ _ _ I hope this goes well, _ _ ”  _ she thought, and looked to her little  b rother.

Tavvy just nodded eagerly and stole a pancake from Helen’s plate.

“Good,” Tessa said with a pleased and eager smile. “I’ll tell Catarina to come over tonight and we’ll meet her son.”    
  
  
•••••   


  
The school bell rang, and Helen rushed inside. She  quickly shoved the small poem inside Aline’s  l ocker and abruptly made her way to class. 

_“_ _I hope she likes it..,_ _”_ Helen whispered quietly to herself as she sat down in the back of the class.

As usual, no one really paid much attention to her. Here and there, there was some whispering, quick glances, and a few paper balls thrown at her. Helen tried to ignore it as best as she could and tried to hide her watery eyes. 

_ “ _ _ Why can’t I just fit in..? _ _ ”  _ she thought. It was so easy for others to fit in, but why not for her? 

Was it her look? Did they know about her past? Was she not wearing cool stuff? Why did they not like her the way she was? Helen didn’t understand it.

The teachers didn’t help much. They had often tried to educate their classes on bullying, and even made games where everyone would be taught how it felt to be bullied, but her whole class just made fun of it, and Helen always felt even more horrible after that. 

_ “ _ _ Just try to think about something you love, _ _ ’ _ ”  Auntie had told her. Helen often thought about her  p arents and siblings during classes. How she loved being on the beach with her family, building  s andcastles with Dru;  _ how tiny her  _ _ h _ _ ands were!  _ Barely big enough to hold the shovel on her own! Ty and Livia had loved to help them both, but were often busy finding sea shells and other things to make bracelets for their siblings and parents with. 

Mark and Julian had loved to play knights. They would pretend to have imaginary horses, riding into the unknown to find their princesses. 

On game nights, they would play cards games or put together puzzles. Tavvy loved to drool on the puzzle parts, but how can you be mad at a  six month old who was also being extremely cute? Often he would sleep in her  a rms. There were still nights where he refused to sleep if she wasn’t there. Tavvy often came into her room in his little cat onesie, his tiny teddy bear in his small arms, small tired eyes asking if he could sleep in her bed that night. It was often because of his  n ightmares or when it was thundering and storming outside. Sometimes it was also just because he didn't want to be alone. Helen never minded it. She was used to having her  s iblings laying in her bed, sprawled out, sleeping peacefully. They had often snuck into their  p arents room and invaded their bed, all  seven of them jumping happily on it, throwing pillows until they fell on it giggling and laughing. 

Helen smiled, sketching a small picture of her sister, Livia. 

_ “ _ _ I miss you all so dearly, _ _ ’” _ she thought, trying to keep her tears inside. 

“Hey!” A harsh voice ripped her out of her thoughts. She looked up as a young boy stared at her. It was Raphael Santiago.

“Class is over”. 

Helen nodded. “Sorry,” she mumbled, which made Raphael change his poker face to a confused expression.

“No need to apologize,” he said calmly. “Don’t miss the other classes. The tests are gonna be tough!” He gave her a warm smile and left.

  
“ _ Why was he nice to me _ _?” _ That was the first thing Helen had in her mind. Raphael was a relatively new kid too. He had joined their class a year ago and was never mean to her but also didn’t really pay attention to her. 

For him, it had seemed easy to find friends. In just one week, he had joined in with the basketball team. He had a girlfriend and was very popular. Helen? No friends, unnoticed and single, unhappily in love with someone who probably didn’t know she even existed. 

Lost in her thoughts, she had completely blanked the first four hours of classes that day. 

Quietly, she walked through the school halls. A young man raced past and pushed her, making her drop what she was carrying. 

“Sorry, sorry!” He quickly turned around. “I didn’t mean to push you!” He gave her a charming smile and continued on his way. 

_ “ _ _ Strange.., _ _ ”  _ she whispered. 

Helen’s usual lunch time routine was to get her books from her locker, pull out the ones she needed for next class, and find a spot to hide and eat something. However, as she made her way to the exit, she saw the girl of her dreams run outside. 

_ “ _ _ Aline? Why is she leaving?”  _ Helen stared at the door for a second. Was she alright? Was she hurt? Did something happen? Why was she running outside? Normally she would join her cheerleader friends and the boys from the basketball team. 

Shaking her head, she curiously followed her. 

  
  


•••

“H… Who are you?” the young girl whispered. 

Helen followed Aline to the back of the school. 

Aline was leaning against the tree on the other side, groaning and mumbling some things. Helen wasn’t able to understand everything, but she did understand that she was talking about the poem Helen had written for her.

“ _ She liked it,”  _ Helen smiled shyly. 

After Aline stopped talking to herself, Helen wanted to take a new step. 

So she talked.

“Maybe they’re not ready yet,” she said to her.

Helen didn’t expect Aline to blurt out about falling in love with someone and their writing without even knowing them. That she was stuck with someone she doesn’t really love and that she felt unhappy. 

Unhappy. A feeling that Helen was familiar with. 

Helen had never really been good at giving advice. She so wished Tessa could appear and help her, but she was on her own. 

As best she could, she tried to stay calm, telling Aline to be honest with herself, to be honest to the one she is with, to be open with them to not lead them on, and to give their admirer time too. 

Hearing Aline’s voice so close felt extremely good to Helen, and she wished she could just go around the tree and tell her who she was. But how could she even do that?

_ “Hi, I'm Helen. I'm the weirdo who’s been writing you poems, being utterly stupidly in love with you for the past year and a half. You don’t know me but I’d like to ask you out on a date, or how about we marry immediately! And adopt four cats! And two dogs! And lots of Children!!” _

She shook her head. No. She wanted to get to know Aline, to get to know her likes and moods and her personality, everything about her, but her own mind kept her from being brave enough to talk to her face to face. 

“Time is an evil thing. But it is necessary, and who knows, maybe it’ll all be worth the wait,” she said after she paused for a moment. 

Time was indeed evil. It could pass in seconds or it could take eternity to just get over one minute. 

Time could heal and time could hurt, but either way it’s hard to handle. 

Helen smiled as the small breeze stirred up and ruffled through her hair. She knew she couldn’t say more, and she had to leave, so she quietly walked away.

She heard Aline shouting, “Wait!” but she couldn’t. Not now. Not on this day. It wasn’t their time yet, but Helen knew one day it would come. 

She didn’t know if her words were enough for Aline, but deep inside she hoped they were. 

••• 

  
  


The last hours of school passed by quickly. Helen didn’t immediately go home after school. She spent the day studying in the school library, writing notes and reading more books to improve her writing skills.

_ “ _ _ Who knew it was so hard to push your feelings down! _ _ ”  _ she told herself after she closed the last book. 

Carefully, she picked up all the paper balls she had collected. She had thrown them on the ground after she had ripped pages out of her note book, forming them into balls and throwing them aside, all filled with the starts of poems for Aline. 

As soon as it started to grow dark outside, she made her way home, thinking about her little victory.

“ _ I talked with her today! I heard her beautiful voice so clear and so close. _ _ ” _ She had a big smile on her face. 

It was still hard to believe, but like Tessie always said, “ _ Sometimes, it just takes a stupid coincidence!”  _ Well, it wasn’t a coincidence exactly. She had basically followed her, but it still counted, she told herself. 

As Helen arrived home, she saw a familiar car in front of their house.  _ “They’re here!”  _

Quietly, she opened the door. She could hear voices coming from the kitchen. 

A young boy laughed warmly after saying something that Helen couldn’t figure out.

Slowly, she walked towards the voices. Her stomach started to clench. She felt her heart racing and nervousness chewed on her nerves. 

She opened the Kitchen door slowly. 

“Helen! You’re home!” Auntie Tessie cheerfully said, but Helen couldn’t hear her anymore. Everything around her went silent and her eyes focused on the young man sitting next to Catarina. The face, the hair, the boy. She knew him.

Magnus Bane, basketball player and friend of Aline. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3 To be continued .. <3


	3. To H.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally made it back after a long troubeling month!  
> Thanks to my beautiful friend Rina who helped me fixing some mistakes <3 
> 
> I hope you all like it !

_ “Why? Why Why Why Why? Why him? Why me?”,  _ Helen thought in panic. This was a close friend to Aline. 

Aline the girl she liked so much and admired from afar.

“I’m Magnus” the older boy with pitch black hair said. After Helen didn’t say anything, so he got up, gave her a warm smile and held his hand out. His look was different like Helen knew from other boys in school. 

He had pink leather pants on, black lace boots and a plain white shirt with golden letters on. Helen liked it, his fashion taste was different but good and he had a beautiful and warm smile, charming and kind. 

Carefully she took his hand. “I’m Helen”, she said quietly. 

She felt a hand gently squeezing her shoulder. “It’s nice to see you again Helen” Catarina said, “I hope you and Magnus get along well”. 

Helen gave her a small nod, shyly smiling at Magnus who returned it with a big grin. 

“You go to my school, right?” Magnus sat back down and ruffled through Tavvy’s hair “I can’t remember seeing you there?”. 

Helen, Tessa and Catarina sat back down. Tessa filled everyone’s cup with some hot tea and shoved the cookies in the middle of the table.

“I’m not often in School” Helen muttered and shoved a cookie inside her mouth. 

_ “This boy is a friend of Aline, this is bad this is bad”  _ Helen’s thoughts went wild  _ “Maybe it isn't that bad?”Oh god who am I kidding this is bad”  _ she tried to keep a calm face. 

Magnus stared at her with a confused look on his face.

“I guess I’m just good at hiding” she said quietly. 

Magnus nodded. “Well, you don’t have to hide, I can introduce you to my friends! We’re practically family now!” he said with an excited smile.

Clearly Magnus was an open Person with a big heart, he didn’t hide his feelings and looked like someone who always says what’s on his mind.

Helen didn’t really know what to say, getting to know his friends would mean she’d get close to Aline, which would be good but knowing herself she would mess up really bad. 

“Easy Magnus” Catarina said, smiling at Helen. Catarina knew Helen longer and often talked to her before she went to her therapy sessions. In return Helen helped her how to swoon Tessa. 

Helen just smiled, as much as she feared facing other people it was still nice to know that he would introduce them to her. 

“ _ Practically family..”,  _ she thought  _ “Well I can see these two getting married” _ Helen smiled to herself. It would make Tessa happy and that was everything she wanted.

Tavvy, Drusilla and Julian already seemed to like Magnus too, the latter two asking him various questions about his Fashion and what he loved to do

“Maybe,” Helen finally said, Magnus smiling at her in return.

All seven of them talked, well Helen listened to them. Magnus told them about his basketball game and how he dragged his boyfriend through eight different stores just to get his purple golden Blazer he wanted for the Spring Ball. 

Catarina told them how she took Magnus in after Drusilla asked her. He’d lost his Parents, which felt familiar to Helen and her siblings.   
Catarina was his mother’s best friend, who died after giving birth to him. His father unfortunately was never really interested in raising him alone and wanted to send him to a orphanage, so Catarina took him in instead. She told small funny stories about Magnus as a child, which clearly embarrassed him but made the rest of the Family laugh.

“And that’s how he broke his arm when he tried on some high heels” Catarina laughed and squeezed Magnus’s hand. 

“What can I say? I was a wild child!” Magnus laughed “Oh, I asked my boyfriend and best friend to help me with the last boxes from my room, they’ll bring them over tomorrow and help me unpack”, he smiled at Tessa. “And I told them they could stay for dinner, I hope that’s ok?”

Tessa nodded “Of course dear, that is more than ok,” she laughed.

The House wasn’t big, they turned the guest Room into Magnus new room and of course Catarina already knew Tessa wouldn’t let her sleep on the Couch so her things immediately went into Tessa’s Bedroom. 

Julian has his own room and Helen took the smallest so Tavvy had enough space to play in his and Dru’s room.

First Julian offered Magnus to move into his room so Catarina can have her own but she denied it and said Magnus needs it more especially since he has more Clothes than everyone else in this House.

“Probably more than whole New York” Catarina joked as he told them how many boxes he had. 

Helen couldn’t really pay attention to them anymore, all she thought about was the fact that his friends coming over. 

_ “Oh dear, which friend is coming over?”  _ Helen got nervous. 

Tessa turned to her and gently squeezed her Hand. “You’re okay sweetheart?” she asked while rubbing her thumb over the back of Helen's hand. She just nodded and gave her Mother a small smile.

  
  


The rest of the evening was quiet, they all had a small dinner together, talked more and laughed more. 

Tessa and Catarina overfloated each other with funny stories about their kids and their embarrassing action.

Which was very uncomfortable for Magnus and Helen but the rest of the family laughed heartily about it. 

After awhile they all split up. Magnus, Catarina, Julian , Dru and Tessa went their ways to their bedrooms and Helen told them to go on, that she will finish the dishes and Tavvy didn’t want to leave her alone. He tried helping her by drying the plates with rubbing them on his shirt. Helen just smiled and cleaned them again.

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight?” Tavvy asked as Helen put the last plate onto the shelf. 

He often slept in her room, especially when he got nightmares. Tessa had to work late a lot, so Helen was the one with him in the night when he couldn’t sleep or had nightmares.

She nodded and gave him a small kiss on his forehead. His tiny hands laid around her neck and his head rested on her shoulder while she made her way upstairs.

After they both got ready for bed, Tavvy cuddled against her, giving her the puppy eyes. “Can you tell me a bedtime story Leni?” Helen smiled, she often made up new bedtime stories for him since they’ve already been through all the disney books. 

“How can I refuse my little cupcake,” she smiled, holding him close and petting his soft hair. “Alright, let me tell you a story about the angelic princess who travelled through a land full of demons just to find her true love, a beautiful fairy princess…..” 

*******

The morning came quickly and Helen had no real motivations to even think about school, hopes her auntie would just let her sleep in, were destroyed after little Tavvy started jumping up and down on her bed.

“Leni! Leni! Leni!” he repeated, jumping eager and eager. “It’s Friday! Pizza Night!!” he squeaked full of excitement.

Friday’s they always ordered pizza and watched a movie together. It was their own little family ritual and they all enjoyed it. Usually it ended up with Emma and Julian cuddled in the chair, wrapped in a blanket, Dru sleeping and leaning against Tessa while she also fell asleep, drooling slightly on Dru. 

Tavvy and Helen were the only ones who mostly finished watching the movie. Tavvy loves to call them “The last Knights of the Night”. 

But as much as she loved them, Helen wasn’t really happy about this evening. Since Magnus and his friends are gonna be there for Dinner and she got no clue who shows up.  _ “What if.. it’s her..?” _ she kept thinking the whole night until she passed out. 

“Of course of course, easy there!” she smiled and rubbed her eyes. 

Tavvy crawled off the bed and stormed out of the room, screaming “Pizza night!!” through the whole house. 

With a groan she rolled herself out of bed. 

“ _ This is gonna end badly..” _ she let out a small sob. 

“Are you ok?” a male voice appeared on the doorway.

Magnus. 

“Yes, yes I’m ok..” Helen mumbled still sleepy.

“Perfect, I already made breakfast, hurry before Mom inhales it all!” he gave her a charming, absolutely beautiful smile before he left.

Helen isn’t used being treated so nicely by a stranger, though he belonged to her family now, maybe that’s why. But she liked it.

She fought with herself a few minutes before she left bed and got ready. 

As she got downstairs she could hear Tavvy telling Magnus everything he needed to know about Pizza night, with his most important rule: “No pineapple on Pizza.” 

“Helen, back me up?! I am not allowed to have Pineapple on my pizza halves?” Magnus said with a played shock in his voice and on his face.

“Don’t worry, now we’re two and Tavvy made a rule that when two people want pineapple then we get it” Helen grinned after Tavvy let out a shocked gasp after he realized his mistake. 

She sat down and Tavvy crawled on her lap. 

Catarina shoved a plate with scrambled eggs towards her. “You look extremely pale, are you alright?” she stretched out a hand and placed it on Helen’s right cheek, then on the left and then on her forehead. “A little feverish..” she said with an alarmed voice.

“No I’m okay really!” Helen assured her and gave her a smile, feeding Tavvy with some eggs before shoveling some inside her mouth. She knew he could already eat alone but she loved to just keep treating him like a small baby and often he just laid down on the floor and held his arms up when he was too lazy to walk on his own.

The doorbell rang and Magnus immediately jumped up from his seat. “My ride's here! I’ll see you all tonight!” he made his way out before he stopped. “You want to come with us Helen?” he asked with a bright smile.

_ “And die as soon as I see her? No thanks.” _ was on her mind. 

She slowly shook her head. “I take Tavvy to Kindergarden and then take the bus, thank you.” she gave him a small shy smile which he returned before he left.

They finished breakfast pretty quick afterwards since Catarina and Tessa had to head off for work, Julian already making his way with Dru and Emma to school. 

Catarina although spent a few minutes to check on Helen, asking her several times if she was really sure that she felt ok and offering to take Tavvy to Kindergarden.

_ “I can’t keep running away from school anyways…” _ she thought to herself as she assured both that she really was fine while helping her little brother into his jacket and shoes. 

“Besides this is our small morning ritual and he enjoys it a lot,” she said, smiling at Tavvy who took his small bear backpack which was filled with lunch Tessa made for him, and waited for Helen to pick him up. “And so do I.”

They kissed both goodbye and made their way outside. 

“And don’t make out on the kitchen table otherwise you’ll be late.” Helen shouted before she closed the door, a small gasp following her out of the kitchen. 

She smiled, feeling Tavvy snuggle close and both made their way to Kindergarden. 

********* 

Thankfully the school day wasn’t long so Helen didn’t have to suffer too much.

The classes were pretty quiet and no one seemed to pay attention to her anyways.

In her break she moved stealthy through the halls as usual, trying to avoid everything and everyone. 

Only the glimpse of a familiar sparkling letter on the school board caught her eye as she passed it. 

She took the small piece of paper, noticing it was in fact her own paper she uses to write her poems on, just cut in half so the Poem was missing.   
On the blank part of the page was a message which said: 

_ “To H. _

_ You’ve been sending me these beautiful poems for months and I would really like to meet you. So if you are willing to reveal yourself please meet me at the Spring Ball night on my locker. It would mean the world. _

_ Thank you,  _

_ A. _

_ p.s: If anyone takes this note who isn’t H, I will hunt you down and kick your butt. “ _

The last sentence was signed with a small figure who had a very angry face expression and held up a tiny sword with a bubble saying “I will fight you!” a small arrow pointed to the ‘ _ kick your butt’ _ part. 

The side of Helen’s mouth curled up into a shining smile, she tucked the message inside her pocket and made her way outside. 

When she found her usual spot empty, she took a seat and read the message over and over again. 

So Aline asked her out on a date, well some sort of date. 

Helen felt her heart making a small jump before her smile faded. What if Aline hoped for a young man? What if she wasn’t happy when she showed up? Would it be a smart idea to go there? Maybe she shouldn’t.

But what if she regrets it and Aline sits there alone and crying? 

Now she pictured Aline sitting on the stairs in front of the school in a magnificent beautiful dress, or suit, crying her eyes out because her secret admirer didn’t have the courage to show up. 

She let out a frustrated groan. 

“ _ I have to go..”  _ she murmured, actually she wanted to go as much as it scared her.

“ _ Alright Blackthorn, you have to grow some imaginary balls and show up! Dad always said, if you want something you have to go after it!!” _ she trying to motivate herself.

Two weeks.. in two weeks she could get her heart broken or make one of the best choices in her life. 

Her hands were shaking both out of fear and excitement. 

After lunch, the last classes felt like torture, not because people said stupid stuff - no she kept thinking about Aline, different scenarios that could happen during that night.

In one, she showed up, Aline turning around with beautiful raven black hair flying around her head, her marvelous dark brown eyes sparkling at her and her lips showing her wonderful and astonishing smile.

They talked and it ended with them kissing. Her thoughts went wild, she imagined pressing Aline against the locker, fingers tangled in her hair while their lips kept crashing together and their tongues brushed over each others lips seeking eagerly for entrance. 

One of her legs was shoved between hers, pressing against Aline’s hot center while the other hand trailed down the smaller woman’s body, exploring it eagerly before - Helen shook her head. 

“ _ No! No! This was not the time to think about this!” _ she warned herself, pressing her legs together. 

Her second imagination wasn’t as appealing, Aline telling her kindly that she isn’t really interested in girls and hoped that  **H** was a very good looking handsome boy. Trying to let her down easily. “ _ It would still hurt”  _ she thought.

The third scenario in her head was the worst, she imagined how she showed up, Aline staring at her with wide eyes before being utterly disgusted that a woman was in love with her, telling her that she was sick and should leave her alone. 

“ _ No no no!” _ she told herself, feeling her body start to shake, anxiety slowly creeping up her spine and tears building up in her eyes.

She blinked them away, trying to not let anyone notice her panicking. 

Maybe they could just be friends if Aline isn’t interested in her? 

_ “Who am I kidding? How could I look into her face after that?”  _ Helen forcing herself to concentrate on class.

Unfortunately her mind kept playing different scenarios and how it could turn out for them until the bell finally released them into the weekend and saved her from her spiralling thoughts

Helen left class and the school building immediately, but she wasn’t ready to go home yet. 

It was only 2:30 after all, and Helen had time to spare before leaving to pick up Tavvy.

She grabbed a coffee and went to the park, where she sat down on a bench, staring at the ducks and little ducklings swimming happily around in the pond. Children were screaming and playing in the background while couples kissed and cuddled on their picnic blankets and mothers tried stopping their kids from falling into the water and eating things they shouldn’t.

Helen smiled, she’d love to sit in the park with Aline together. Having a nice quiet picnic while sitting next to each other, enjoying the warmth and company from one another. 

Maybe in the future they could also take trips, living together in a house, having kids -  _ “Ok no I won’t go that far, don’t build hopes up Blackthorn.”  _ she warned herself. 

Still she wondered if Aline would like that. 

She spend two more hours wandering around the Park, seeing two squirrels fight over some left over food until a third one snatched it and they started chasing it. 

_ “Tavvy would’ve loved to see that.”  _ she grinned. 

After she kept walking around for a few more minutes, she made her way to pick up Tavvy. 

She knew after Kindergarden he was invited to a friends birthday, they picked him up there and told her the address so she could pick him up later.

Tavvy loved being at the Fairchild’s house. Luke and Jocelyn Fairchild had a teenage daughter, Clary and a younger daughter Charlotte. 

Tavvy always says he and Charlotte are best friends and that they tell each other great secrets no one can know about! 

Charlotte was a very nice girl, she was turning 6 today and has been friends with Tavvy for quite awhile now - they didn’t live far away from their house, they met as Helen walked around the neighborhood with him in her arms, to see what it looks like while the moving service brought their stuff into their house. 

Although she met Clary once there, they never really got close or had met in school, probably because Helen keeps hiding and believes that Clary wouldn’t like her anyways. 

After a small bus ride and a small walk she found herself at the doorstep from the Fairchilds. It took her 10 minutes to finally press the doorbell. 

As the door opened, Jocelyn was standing there, paint in her face, a few pencils holding her messy bun together and a warming smile across her face. “Hello Helen!” she greeted her friendly.

Before Helen could say something Tavvy and Charlotte ran towards her, screaming “Helen” in a synchronized tone. 

They both hugged her legs as she gently ruffled their hair. “Hey you little koala bears!” she smiled.

“Happy Birthday Charlotte,” she said, fumbling a present out of her Bag. 

She got this a few days ago when she picked a gift with Tavvy together. He wanted to get her a little Transformer figure so he can bring his own over too and they could play. 

Charlotte took it and thanked her a million times while brutally ripping the wrapping paper off. Jocelyn tried to tell her to go easy but Charlotte just ignored her. 

Her eyes lit up. “Yay!” she squealed as she saw the Ghostbusters Lego Car on the Box.

“Thank you so much Leni!” she hugged Helen’s leg once again.

“Of course! You can build it together with Tavvy once you and your family are back from your weekend trip, if you’d like.” Helen said and the little girl nodded eagerly. 

As they waved goodbye, Tavvy told Helen what they have done today.

Everything in small details, even the time when they threw cake at each other and ate the remaining pieces off each other's face, pretending to be Zombies eating brains. 

“That does sound kinda gross Tavvy,” Helen laughed.

“It’s fun!” Tavvy said cheerfully. 

They both arrived at home and Helen saw a small truck with a boy inside, shoving three boxes at the edge before jumping down and grabbing them. 

“ _ Oh dear, they’re already here.. but seems like they’re also already done bringing all the boxes inside..”  _ Helen waited until the boy disappeared in the house before Tavvy and her followed. She sat him down.

“Go say Hi to Mom, I’ll be upstairs - I don’t feel so well right now,” she explained slowly. Tavvy gave her a sad look. “But you will be ok when we watch a movie? You are the second knight I can’t be without you!” he whined.

She gently let her hands run through his hair. “I’ll be downstairs once dinner and movie places are set up.” She smiled and walked upstairs. 

She could hear them talk in Magnus room, so she made sure to hid in her own room quickly before someone could see her. 

She let herself fall into her bed and closed her eyes for a second. 

_ “ _ I hope its not her, _ ”  _ she whispered into her pillow. 

But as soon as these words left her mouth, two voices came closer and she noticed. 

_ “It’s her..” _ Helen froze.  _ “No panic, you’re in your room she won’t see you..”  _ Helen closed her eyes, it gladly didn’t take her long to doze off as the voices got quieter until they faded. 

“ _ Two weeks..” _ she mumbled.

******

After a while, Helen woke up by the sound of her door.

It got closed very carefully. A smile flashed over her face as she heard small footsteps on the wooden floor, tapping towards her bed stumbling once before continuing. 

“Leni,” Tavvy crawled on her bed. “Leni,” he repeated and gently poked her shoulder as he finally made it up.

Helen decided not to move. “Leni..” Tavvy whispered taking a deep breath. “Please wake up Leni!” he shook her a bit, she heard him let out a small sob.

She turned around, wrapped him inside her arms and placed kisses all over his face. “You got trapped by the smooch-monster!” 

Tavvy squealed and laughed. “Oh no!”

She released him and pet his head. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” she said.

“It’s ok,” he said.

“Do you feel better?” he asked and sat down on her stomach. 

Helen paused for a second before giving him a smile and a nod.

“Oh no! I forgot the most important thing!” before Helen could give Tavvy a answer to that, he jumped down her bed and ran out of the room. 

With a questioning face she stared after him.

After a few minutes he returned, two small milk boxes and a small bag in his tiny arms.

He closed the door and ran towards Helen. “Can you help me up, please?” he asked.

Helen picked him up gently and sat him down on the bed.

“Cookies!” he cheerfully said and gave Helen one of the small milk boxes and opened the cookie bag.

“You know we eat in about two hour?” Helen smiled and opened the milk box and gave it back to him, opening her own right after. 

“There is a really nice lady helping Magnus with his boxes!” he said while shoving a cookie inside his mouth, completely ignoring what Helen just said.

“Is that so?” Helen took a small sip and took a cookie as well, her eyes were fixed on the door.

“I gave her a cookie!” he smiled. “Is she married with Magnus?” he asked with a questioning look.

Helen coughed. “No, not really. They’re way to young Tavvy and Magnus has a boyfriend.” 

“A boyfriend?” he asked.

“Yes. You see, a boy can be in love with another boy too. Love is a wide open world, you can love a boy, a girl or both. Just like auntie Tessie, she had a husband who passed away years ago and she found new love in Catarina.” she tried to explain and to make it simple for a 4 year old boy to understand it. 

He was quiet for a bit, lost in thoughts until he looked back up to her with a big smile. “I like that!” he said happily and cuddled against his sister. 

They both spend the last two hours in Helen’s room and played a game on their Nintendo Switch. 

Before Catarina knocked and opened the door half ways to stick her head inside. “Hey my little racoons.” she smiled. “pizza is here!”.

Tavvy jumped up immediately. “PIZZA!” he screamed and ran towards Catarina, he squished through between the door and Catarina’s legs. 

“Wow rude!” Helen laughed. “Never got ditched that fast.” 

Nervously she sat up, letting her eyes search the room to avoid Catarina’s gaze. “Are they still there?” she asked quietly.

Catarina gave her a small smile, she entered the room and walked towards Helen. 

She sat down next to her and placed a hand on her back. “Aline left. Just his boyfriend Alec is still there, he stays for dinner.” 

Helen nodded, it wasn’t really better either but at least Aline was gone so she could avoid embarrassing herself. 

“Your Mom told me about,” Catarina took a deep breath. “She told me about your crush on her.” 

“What?” Helen said. “I told her not -“ Catarina held up her hand to silence Helen. “Please don’t be mad at her. She just wanted to help you and asked for my advice. She wants to be there for you and help you be happy.” she said. 

Helen was silent for awhile, she knew she can trust Catarina, so she started. “I got this letter.” Helen pulled it out from under her Pillow.

Catarina read it carefully and smiled. “This is actually really adorable.” she giggled. “You know Tessa left me a small notes too after she was too scared to ask me out personally.” she smiled.

“I don’t know what to do Rina..What if I show up and it turns out to be a complete nightmare?” she leaned against Catarina’s shoulder.

“Well it could also be a good choice?” she answered. “You don’t have to do it but maybe it would be a good idea? I can’t make this decision for you but I know that either way, me and Tessa will always be there. It won’t be easy but you’ll regret it if you don’t do it. No one guarantees us that everything will always work out in life but at least we can always say that we tried.”

Helen nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

“You can ask Magnus a bit about her eventually?” Catarina offered. 

“No, I don’t want him to know it yet.” Helen said.

Catarina nodded. 

“I heard my name?” Magnus stood in the doorway, smiling. He had a purple leather pants on and a bright yellow shirt which said ‘too fabulous for you’

Catarina grinned. “It’s all good Magnus.” She took Helen’s hand. “Lets go.” 

As the three of them got downstairs, Magnus pulled Alec out of the kitchen.

“Helen, please meet my boyfriend Alec. Alec this is Helen my sister.” he smiled proudly. 

Helen was surprised that Magnus called her sister already so soon but she didn’t mind at all. Magnus was just a very lovely and sweet boy.

“It’s nice to meet you Helen!” Alec held out a hand with a shy smile on his lips.

Helen took it, giving him a beautiful shy smile. “Nice to meet you too Alec.” 

They all settled down, Tavvy sat on Helen’s lap, Dru joined Tessa and Catarina on the couch by squishing between them and happily smiling, while Julian and Emma shared their usual seat together. 

Magnus and Alec sat in front of the couch, wrapped in a blanket munching on pineapple pizza, although Alec decided to pull his pineapple pieces off and fed them to Magnus. 

They decided to watch the Ghostbusters movies. 

And like usual the pizza vanished in seconds and after the second movie they were mostly all asleep besides Helen, Tavvy and surprisingly Magnus. 

“You are the third knight of the night now.” Tavvy whispered to Magnus, poking the spiky black hair of him. 

Magnus gave them a big grin. “Awesome.” 

Helen smiled, she thought she wouldn’t like him, that they would hate each other but this wasn’t so bad after all. She liked Magnus already and was happy to welcome him and Catarina in her little family.

Maybe she could really actually ask him for advice with Aline. 

_ “Two weeks..” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be continued <3
> 
> Comments & Kudo's appreciated <3


	4. Is it you?

Aline was way too lazy to get out of bed but she kept waking up at night and started writing small notes on a paper until she found the perfect one she could put on the school board.

She gently cut a piece of paper off the poem paper.

_ “I hope she notices this..” _ she thought and scribbled down her message including a small angry cartoon warrior to make sure people stay off if they aren’t  **H** .

_ “Please let this work..” _ she mumbled and shoved the note in her bag.

She rushed in the bathroom and got ready in no time. As she got down her father and mother were already sitting at the table.

Jia gave her a smile. “Good morning dear.” she said.

Patrick just kept reading his newspaper, lifting his hand to a small wave but kept having his eyes focused on the news.

“ _ Good Morning to you too ass..” _ she thought as she sat down.

“Will Kyle pick you up today dear?” Jia tried to break the silence after a while.

“No. I told you I end things with him.” Aline said and poked her scrambled eggs.

“He is a nice boy, you shouldn’t break up.” Patrick said behind his paper.

“But it’s my choice and I stay with it.” she snarled back at him.

“Aline you - “ Patrick started, slapping his newspaper down but Jia put a hand over his. “It’s okay, let her be.” she tried to calm him down.

“You’re turning eighteen soon, you should find a man for the future who will earn good money.” He said, going back to his newspaper.

“Dad we don’t live in your old times anymore, I don’t **need** a man to build up a good life, I can do this myself.” Aline said, shoving her plate away. “I’m leaving I won’t return before dinner.” 

Jia wanted to say something but Aline already left them and ran out of the house. 

Jace, Izzy, Alec, Clary and Magnus already waited for her in Jace’s car.

As she took her seat Magnus stared at her. “You good?” before Aline said something she felt a tissue pressed on her cheeks. 

Izzy dried her cheeks, she hadn’t noticed she’d started crying while leaving the house. 

“Yeah.. I don’t want to talk about it. Just get me away from here.” she mumbled. Izzy kept drying her tears before stroking her head softly. 

“We’re here for you!” they all nodded in agreement.

And with that they drove off to school

******* 

School wasn’t Aline’s favorite part but she knew she had to go through this, as much as she needed to break someone's heart and hoping for the other one to show up.

Aline pinned the small letter to the school board. 

“Please work…” she muttered and stared at it for a while. 

“Is this for H?” Alec asked as he showed up behind her.

Aline nodded. She told him about the letters because he was the only one who could be trusted with it.

“Yes. I hope it works. I know it might be a woman. If it really was the one behind the tree.” she muttered. 

Alec smiled. “Either way it’ll be fine. I will keep you company when it is the time, just in case a creep shows up!” he laid an arm around her. 

“Do you want me to help you with Kyle too?” he asked.

“No.” Aline took a deep breath, she turned and gave him a hug. “I have to do this myself.” 

He placed a small kiss on her forehead. “You got this.” 

She slowly walked down the halls, until she saw Kyle standing on his locker alone. 

“Hey Kyle,” she said trying to stay calm. 

“Aline!” he said, leaning down to kiss her but she took a step back. “Is something wrong?”

“Listen Kyle. I really like you but this isn’t working out.” she started slowly. 

“Did I do something wrong? I can change and do it better?” he said.

“No that’s not it, Kyle listen -“ she tried again. 

“I will be better.” he interrupted her. 

“No you don’t understand I -“ Aline tried desperately to give him an answer. 

“I’ll change I promise.” he tried to assure her, not really giving her a chance to finish any of her sentences until Aline blurted out “I’m gay”. 

He let out a small ‘oh’ and gave her an emotionless expression. 

They stood there, awkward silence hanging in the air until Kyle took a breath. “I understand, I hope you find your love.” he smiled at her.

“Thank you..” she mumbled, she felt embarrassed and relieved at once. She knew she hurt him and he just played it cool.

“Is it really ok?” Aline said quietly.

“I mean you love who you love? I’m not a jerk, you know me. I’m hurt, yes but I want you happy.” 

“Is it making it easier when I tell you that Maya likes you a lot?” Aline said trying to make this situation less weird.

“That’s good to know,” he laughed, he squeezed her shoulder gently. “Friends?” he asked.

“Definitely, but take your time Kyle.” she smiled at him, she liked him as a friend but she knew it took time to settle. He smiled, nodded and left her alone in the hallway. 

_ “This wasn’t that bad.. could've been worse but I still feel bad..” _ she thought. 

“ _ I hope no one heard me now..”  _ nervously she made her way to class. She just outed herself to her now ex boyfriend and she didn’t really say it quietly so people could’ve heard it. “ _ There’s no turning back now anyways Penhallow!” _ she warned herself. 

She knew it was the right way, she wanted to meet H. She needs to know. There are so many things that are unspoken and so many feelings she can’t coordinate. Aline needs to see H.

“Even if it’s the last thing I do.” she said out loud before entering her classroom.

As usual she sat herself down on the windowside.

It was a cloudy day, small breeze and nice weather to just sit under a tree and sleep for hours. 

Her mind drifted off and her eyes kept staring outside.

“ _ What if H doesn’t want to meet me? What if they just want to write me poems with no real intention behind it?” _ she thought.

Aline would lie if she said she wasn’t scared. She’d got these poems for so long now and it was about time she met her. 

But what if it wasn’t a woman? What if it was a boy? 

_ “But the voice sounded like a woman.. _ ” her mind reminded her but that didn’t have to mean anything.

She can’t imagine a face behind the name, so she couldn’t really figure out what it would look like if they met. All she knows is that it could go well, that they meet, they talk, eventually go to the ball, kiss and go on a date outside or they meet and think that they wouldn’t match because Aline isn’t what they really wanted? 

“ _ But then H wouldnt send you love poems?!” _ she told herself.

She let out a sigh. 

These two weeks will probably drive her crazy.

***** 

To her surprise the whole school day was over very quickly mostly because Aline played some scenarios in her mind and tried to figure out who H could be. She knew a few people who started with the name H but she couldn’t really think about any of them sending her these letters. 

She left the classroom quickly, as she walked down the school halls she checked the school board.

“It’s gone!!??” Aline said out loud. Aline smiled, it was either a good or a bad sign, but for once she decided to leave it and believe that the right person got it. 

She walked out and jumped into Jace’s car who waited in front of the school.

Jace dropped Alec, Magnus and Aline at the old apartment complex where Magnus and Catarina lived.

As they entered the apartment it smelled horrible and they couldn’t even enter the kitchen.

“Guess Mom has to say goodbye to her coffee maker.” Magnus sight. 

“Doesn’t her wife own one?” Aline asked while they went to get Magnu’s boxes.

“She does! And they’re not married.” he said. “At least not yet but my Mom does want to marry Tessa. Her family is very nice and I’ll introduce you to them today! You’ll love them, trust me.” Magnus grinned.

They carried fifteen boxes downstairs, five of them were full of shoes and the rest all full of clothes. They loaded them into the small truck they’d rented for the day.

“You have more shoes than my mom ever owned in her whole life!” Aline complained as she shoved two boxes inside. 

“Well I have to be prepared for important days and just in general being dressed to impress.” he grinned. 

Right now he had one of his bright yellow shirts on with ‘too fabulous for you’ and a pair of purple leather pants with black boots, of course their shoe laces were golden. 

“That’s why I love you.” Alec said and kissed him before kicking the last box inside the truck.

“Get a room.” Aline whined as Magnus pulled Alec in for another round of deep kisses.

Aline already jumped in the driver's seat. 

On the way to Magnus’s new home, Alec and Magnus continued making out, Aline here and there threw some comments in like that she might throw up if they kept doing that.

Of course she loved both and was happy they found each other. She helped them get together after a long time pushing them to finally talk. 

But she also would lie if she said it doesn’t hurt to see them so happy while she wished to have a deep loving connection like they have. Kyle was nice, he treated her well but he didn’t like to cuddle nor could he kiss properly. When they made out Aline always blocked it when he intended to go further, she wasn’t ready and she also somehow felt like it would end in a disaster anyway. 

Her mind once again wandered to H. Would she be so lucky like Magnus and Alec? Could H be the one who she could love and desire forever? She hoped so.

Aline wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to ask them to the ball, they could leave her heartbroken there or show up and tell them they lost interest. She couldn’t think about a good scenario right now, all she could feel was fear.

What she knew is that she for sure wanted Alec to be around in case something goes wrong. 

“Wait wait thats the house!” Magnus said.

“Oh damn sorry!” Aline was so lost in her thoughts she drove past it. Not just that she also drove through a stop sign and through red traffic lights before.

She hit reverse and drove the way backwards. 

“You’re going to get us killed. How did you get your license?!” Alec said and held onto Magnus.

“Not my fault you smooched and didn’t tell me when to stop!” Aline snarled back.

As they arrived Catarina opened the door with Tessa.

“My babies!” Catarina cheerfully said and hugged Aline and Alec as they both jumped out of the car to greet her.

“You get an extra piece of pizza tonight.” she kissed their faces. “Thank you for helping my boy.”

“Always!” both said together.

She let go of them and turned around. “This is Tessa, my dearest love. Tessie this is Aline Penhallow and Alec Lightwood. Alec is Magnus's boyfriend.” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Tessa said with a warm smile and shook both their hands.

As usual they both spoke in sync. “Likewise!” 

Before they unloaded the car, Dru, Julian and Emma got back from school. 

Happily introducing themselves to Aline and Alec.

“There are two missing, our eldest Helen and our youngest Octavian. He is at a friend’s house and Helen still out.” Tessa told both.

“You’ll meet them later!” Catarina added. 

They started to bring the boxes inside, Catarina and the others left them alone and chatted in the kitchen with the simple excuse that Magnus said Aline and Alec would help him so they didn’t have to do anything. 

Magnus rolled his eyes and grinned at his boyfriend who kept complaining with Aline about the boxes.

“I’ll start unpacking this one, so we don’t build box towers in here,” Aline said as she and Alec shoved the first two boxes inside.

Magnus dropped himself on his bed. “Perfect I’ll tell you where it has to go!”

“Really?” Aline said. “Alright your majesty tell me where to put these.” she said rolling her eyes pulling out a beautiful pair of boots, they were completely white with just a few rainbow drops on the front.

“Put these here..” Magnus started. 

“And these there please.” he pointed around his room and Aline started to walk around to put shoes and clothes the way he wanted it.

Hearing him say. “Thank you!” in a very sweet sing-song voice.

“ _ This will be a long day..”  _ she sighed.

****** 

After three hours of unpacking the first eight boxes, Catarina came in to bring them some lemonade.

Normally they would’ve been done by now but Magnus redecorated it over three times because suddenly he got a different inspiration how it would look better, so of course Aline and Alec moved it again and again for him, mocking him with “Yes your Majesty” or “Of course your excellency” which amused him in the end very much. 

“I’ll go get the last box,” Aline said as Alec brought box nine and ten inside. 

“I already placed it at the steps, so you can pick it up there!” Alec shouted as she left the room.

Aline wandered through the small corridor, on the doors were little name tags, colorful and bright. 

They must’ve been made by one of the younger children.

Aline smiled, she stopped at each door and read the names, some had little quotes under it like on Dru and Octavian's. “Caution biting spiders, enter if you dare.” 

Aline laughed, Julian’s door had ‘Julian - little Picasso’ on it. She kept going until she reached the last door, wondering what Magnus would get and what Catarina and Tessa will have on their door. Magnus probably would get something like ‘The Magnificent Magnus’ or ‘Magnus - Fashion King’, she grinned until suddenly a familiar scent hit her.

_ “Chocolate and..” _ She stood in front of the door, staring at it, hoping to suddenly get the ability to look through it.

‘Helen - Sleeping Fairy’ said the little sign, colored with small bunnies and flowers. 

Carefully she stepped closer but before she could dare to open the door she heard footsteps behind her. 

A small young boy came upstairs, his hair was chocolate brown and his blue green eyes sparkled brightly as he looked up to her. In his tiny hands were two small milk boxes and a cookie bag. 

“Hello there.” she said.

“Hello! Who are you?” he asked with a bright smile.

“I’m Aline and who are you young man?” she sat down to him.

“Tavvy!” he said. “Do you want a cookie?” he asked cheerfully, placing the milk on the ground and fumbling out a cookie from the bag. 

“Thank you! That is very sweet of you Tavvy.” she took the cookie.

“I got it for Leni! She doesn’t feel good so I bring her what she likes! Chocolate cookies!” he smiled. “I have to go! Dinner later!” 

With that he wandered off, when he opened the door she was able to get a small glimpse of a woman laying on her bed, silver golden hair sprawled over the blanket but the door got shut too fast to let her see more. 

Her hand reached for the doorknob but stopped.

“ _ That would probably be rude..I’ll meet her later anyway..” _ she told herself and left to get the last box. 

She got back inside the room and found Alec laying on top of Magnus, once again they were making out, this time Magnus had already lost his shirt.

“Guys come on really? You’re always complaining about Izzy and Simon or Jace and Clary when they constantly make out but you aren’t any better?” she dropped the box.

She actually hoped she could talk with Magnus and Alec about the ball and how she could figure out the best way to stay cool, what to say and what to wear, what to do when she won’t show up and maybe even helpful tips for flirting although she should ask Izzy, who knew more about that. She thought she could tell Magnus about her admirer finally too. 

Clearly upset she shoved the box aside. “I’ll take the truck back, see you next week.” she mumbled and went to leave.

Alec quickly got up and grabbed her hand. “Aline wait, please stay and we can ta -“ he said but got interrupted.

She shook her head and brushed his hand off. “It's fine.” she simply said and left.

On her way downstairs Tessa bumped into her.

“I’m sorry dear!” she apologized before letting out a small ‘oh’ sound as she saw that Aline was crying.

“Are you ok honey? What happened?” Tessa asked and gently brushed the tears away with her shirt sleeve. 

“It’s nothing bad I promise,” Aline gave her a small sad smile. “Just fed up with this romantic crap right now.” 

She nodded at Tessa and left before the older woman could say anything or offer her help.

_ “I love you both and I am so happy for you..”  _ she thought as she looked back at the house. 

_ “But right now I can’t deal with that until I can’t find my own happiness..” _ she knew it wasn’t fair but her mind and heart just kept battling each other.

She shook her head and left. 

  
  


**** 

  
  


Aline dropped the car off at the rental place, taking the bus back home. It was later than usual and she knew that would mean a long talk from her father.

She opened the door and heard her mother yell at her father. 

Silently she closed the door, tiptoeing towards the kitchen and listening.

“You can’t keep forcing her into relationships or tell her to look for a husband. She’s just seventeen!” Jia slapped the pan on the table.

“Yes but she needs to think about her future.” Patrick said, with anger in his voice.

Aline peeked in slightly and saw her mother rolling her eyes, letting out an angry huff. “She has to finish school and build the life she wants and for that she doesn’t need to have a husband nor children.” Jia’s voice got one octave louder. 

Before Patrick said something Aline stepped in.

“Please don’t bother fighting about this. Father I won’t go find a husband. I want to do my own stuff. It’s my business not yours.” she said. 

Jia and Patrick stared at her. 

“Aline I just mean -“ 

“No.” Aline said and left.

“Great job.” Jia said and Patrick just grunted, annoyed. 

After Aline showered and let herself fall into her bed, she led out a frustrated scream into her pillow.

_ “Why is life so hard..” _ she thought. She rolled on her back and stared outside the window, tears falling down her face.

“ _ Please H.. Please be real and not a jerk..”  _ she rolled on her back, tears kept falling down until her room door opened.

Jia stepped in quietly.

She closed the door, moving slowly towards Aline, placing a small bowl filled with steamed meat and vegetables on her desk, lowering herself down once again next to sit on the edge of Aline’s bed. 

For a little moment they just sat there, until Jia reached out and stroked her daughter’s cheek, drying the tears gently with her thumb.

“Mom..” Aline sobbed. Her eyes searched for her mother’s, as they met Jia gave her a warm smile.

“I’m here sweetheart.” she said.

“I have to tell you something,” the young girl let out a small sigh, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

“I’m gay. It was never a joke..” she said, too scared to open her eyes again to see the disappointment in her mother's eyes.

Once again they remained like this, Jia gently let her hand run over her daughter’s hair. 

“It’s okay dear,” she spoke softly and Aline’s eyes snapped open. 

She sat up. 

“Mom I know you always said you’d love to see me happy with children and a loving -“ Aline started but Jia just shook her head.

“I want you to be happy. If it’s with a woman then it’s more than fine and who says two woman can’t raise children? Remember the lovely neighbor we had in Beijing? Jianyu?” she asked.

“Lady Jiaying’s twin brother right?” Aline said.

“Exactly. He’s married to a young man called Sebastian. They moved to New Zealand recently and they adopted a baby.” Jia grinned. “So if you want to be with a woman instead of a man then it’s more than ok.” she assured her daughter.

“And Dad?” Aline asked, she leaned forward and rested her head on her mother’s shoulder.

“Well he just has to accept it in the end.” Jia held her daughter. “I can’t promise he’ll be happy or that he will support you but I’ll be on your side my dear.” she whispered. 

“Thank you mom,” Aline pressed a soft kiss on her mother’s cheek.

“Stay?” she whispered. 

“Don’t you want to eat first?” Jia let go of Aline, who laid back down and shook her head.

Jia nodded and laid down, letting Aline cuddle close.

“Thank you so much mom.. I love you,” Aline whispered already half asleep.

“I love you too my sweet child,” the older woman held her in her arms and ran her hand through her hair, humming a lovely melody something she always did for her daughter when she was a small child.

  
_ “Two weeks…” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be continued <3
> 
> Comments & Kudo's appreciated <3


	5. It is you

**Four hours before the Spring Ball.**

**Helen’s POV.**

“Oh you would look so good in this!” Dru said and held up a purple dress.

“Or this one?” Julian fumbled out a green one out of the box.

“No blue would fit way better to her.” Emma said with a wide smile as she pulled out a short sparkling blue dress. 

They spent an hour finding the perfect outfit for Helen. She sat on the bed and most of her family on the floor, fishing out different clothes from different boxes. These were old dresses of Tessa and her Sister Eleanor. They were beautiful but not something Helen would like to wear, to be honest she didn’t really want to wear anything or even step one foot into school tonight. 

Helen let out a small huff and leaned back, she loved her family but she didn’t want them to make any effort for something she wasn’t sure about but was also too scared to tell them she doesn’t want to go.

She told them a young boy had asked her out and they would meet there, Magnus would take her with him. 

Helen thought back over the past two weeks, they went by so fast and as usual in school she was hiding herself. 

Magnus often asked her to come with him but she wasn’t ready, she didn’t want to meet Aline yet.

Unfortunately she did meet her last Saturday as Magnus and her went to pick up a new shelf for his room. It wasn’t really a meeting, she actually hid until Alec and Aline left. 

On their way they first saw Alec who stood in front of a bigger man, who definitely didn’t look nice at all. 

Magnus and her went to Alec and when they got closer they saw Aline standing in the middle between both men. Helen turned around and fled from the scene before Magnus could even notice it. She couldn’t meet her, not yet. 

“How can it be that when you two are alone outside, you end up in a fight with someone?” Magnus said and placed a hand on Alec’s shoulder.

“Get lost John!” Aline snarled, Alec held up his hand. “You heard her!”.

“There there, we won’t hurt each other now come on. John please leave, I’ll handle these two.” Magnus said and pulled them away from the taller man. He shouted something but they didn’t hear it, Magnus was too busy scolding both of them.

Magnus turned around. “I want you to meet my sister Helen.” he looked around. “Helen?” 

“I swear she was with me! Helen! Ok I’m sorry I just lost my sister and Tessa will probably kill me, I see you tomorrow!” he kissed Alec goodbye and gave Aline a peck on the cheek. 

Of course he found her later at the ice cream store, he nearly cried and she apologized many times. 

She bought him a big ice cream as an apology and he asked if she disliked Alec.    
She remembered the face of Magnus clearly, he looked scared. He wanted his family to like his boyfriend.

She assured him many times that she liked Alec. 

After he asked if it was because of Aline, she was quiet for a while. She told him about her crush, since over the two weeks they’d grown closer. He often spent time with her and Tavvy watching Disney movies and sing along to them. She told him about the letter she got but also that he was not allowed to tell anyone not even Alec. 

Of course he promised her. 

“How about this one?” Emma’s voice brought her back to reality.

“Guys.. I don’t know.” she mumbled, Dru, Emma and Julian started to discuss colors and length, pulling out more and more clothes asking her over and over again which ones.

Helen got more and more nervous, she felt herself starting to shake, anxiety caught her and the fear inside her took over. 

“Please..” she said quietly but none of them paid attention until Magnus ended their loud discussion. 

“All of you, leave. I will take over, since I am the one with the best fashion taste in this household,” Magnus said with a victory smile.

The three of them kept talking, telling Helen she should consider the color blue and that a short dress definitely would look good. Magnus shooed them outside and closed the door.

“Hey,” he said softly, sitting down next to her and gently holding her in his arms. “I’m here, it’s ok.”

Helen broke down in tears, she held onto Magnus and cried. 

She let out the tears, the fear, the loneliness and the exhaustion in her heart that build up over months.

Magnus didn’t say anything, he kept holding her and let his hand run over her back. 

“It’s okay princess, just breathe.” he said quietly after a while as Helen got trouble breathing and only sobs escaped her, he helped her sit up straight, placing a hand on her chest and one on her back. “Breath with me. Focus on something in this room and take a deep breath,” he said and took a deep breath with her.

Helen focused on her shelf, it had a picture of her family on it and she kept looking at it. She tried to take a deep breath, struggling first since the tears kept falling down. 

“Easy,” he soothed her and slowly she started to breath in sync with him. 

Slowly calming down, trying to calm her own mind.

It took a bit but Magnus didn’t stop, he kept holding her up and breathed with her until she settled and calmed down.

“Thank you..” she whispered, leaning against him.

“That’s what big brother’s are for,” he smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her head. 

“I’m here and I will go through this with you,” he said. “We will find you something to wear and I will go with you there to meet her.”

Helen looked up. “What if she doesn’t want me?” she asked.

“I doubt that, everyone would be a fool to deny a beautiful woman like you.” he grinned. “And even if she says she isn’t interested, there will be someone out there who loves you and everything about you.” he said, placing another kiss on her forehead. 

Helen wiped away her tears and nodded.

She was scared, so scared but Magnus would be there and hold her if everything went wrong.

“I think I know what I want to wear,” she gave him a small smile and told him. 

His face lit up and he nodded eagerly. “I am perfectly prepared for this!” he said and pulled her up. “Always remember, big brother Magnus will always be there for you.” he smiled and Helen pressed a kiss on his cheek. 

“Thank you.” she smiled. 

This night would be one of the most scariest but eventually also happiest in her life. 

  
  


******************

**Aline’s POV.**

“What do you think?” Aline asked and turned around to face Alec.

He sat on her bed, sprawled completely on it while Jia sat on her computer chair.

“I think this looks absolutely gorgeous.” Jia said and swiped a single tear away. 

“Moooooom!” Aline whined. “Please we said we wouldn’t cry!” Jia just laughed and nodded.

“I think this one is perfect!.” Alec said. He probably was exhausted by now since he laid there for three hours while Aline dressed and changed into the many different dresses she found in her own closet and in her mom’s. 

Aline was dressed in a dark green elegant cocktail dress, it reached down to her knees and showed her beautiful curved hips and the perfect amount of cleavage in her opinion. 

To that, a pair of silver block heels since after she tried on her mom’s high heels she ended up stumbling three times and nearly hitting her head on her desk. 

“I know the perfect hairstyle for this!” Clary said as she entered the room with Izzy. 

Izzy let out a whistle, “You look amazing Aline!” she grinned.

Aline blushed. “You think she’ll like this one too?” she turned around and stared at herself in the mirror.

“Definitely!” they all agreed.

Aline stared at the mirror. Her mind drifted off.

She thought about Saturday, she and Alec picked a pair of shoes for her and a new jacket for him to wear to the ball. She remembered him showing her different shoes that Magnus would definitely like and in the end he actually bought him a pair and told her he would surprise him. 

On their way there, they unfortunately ran into Jon Cartwright. He was a troublemaker and definitely not someone who was good at being nice. He wasn’t in their school, he was in the one in next town and actually also in the basketball team that had just lost against Alec’s team. 

It was actually something they could’ve avoided but John just had to go after it and Alec jumped right at it. 

He kept telling Alec that they should stop cheating and Alec snarled at him that they don’t cheat, Jon’s team just sucked. 

It built up pretty fast and Aline knew Jon could be very aggressive. She put herself between them

“Ok guys please, let’s just not overreact and settle this peacefully yes?” but neither of them paid any attention to her, they kept throwing words at each other and Aline kept trying to ease them until she heard a familiar voice.

“Magnus!” Aline said relieved. 

“Why is it that everytime you both are outside together, it ends up you two being involved in a fight.” he said.

“Get lost!” Aline snarled and Alec just shouted. “You heard her!”

Magnus grabbed both and dragged them away from Jon, he said something but neither of them paid attention because Magnus was about to lecture them.

“You can’t always use violence, I know you hate him but you also know what Coach Greymark said!” Magnus warned Alec.

“And you Aline, stop smiling so proudly you also know that you shouldn’t be involved in fights, the coach will also kick you out and you’ll miss the chance be on the team next school year!” he huffed and crossed his arms.

Both let their head drop and apologized to him several times.

“Alright alright.” He said. “Just be more careful ok?”

Both gave him a nod and promised they’d behave.

“Alright! I want you to meet my sister!” Magnus smiled and turned around. “Helen this - Helen?” he looked around and panic slowly marked his face. 

“Oh no! I lost her!” Magnus eyes went wide. “I see you tonight I have to find my Sister otherwise Tessa will kill me!” he kissed Alec goodbye and gave Aline a small peck on the cheek and left.

Both stared at him until he was out of their sight.

After they dropped the shopping bags in the Car, both went into the ice cream store.

As Alec paid, Aline saw a familiar color of hair on one of the seats, it was the same she saw in the bedroom and Magnus sat in front of her. 

He looked concerned and as much as she wanted to go to them, it looked like a family business situation. 

She dragged Alec outside before he saw his boyfriend sitting there. 

“Aline?” Izzy said and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Huh? Oh sorry!” Aline gave her a smile.

“Alright, we still all agree on driving there together to meet the boys?” Izzy asked and turned to everyone else. 

They all nodded and Aline looked at the empty chair.

Jia left already as Izzy and Clary got back in.

“Ok I’ll do your hair!” Izzy said and Clary was already there with the right utilities for it. 

They dragged her to the Chair.

“ _ Tonight, I hopefully meet you H.”  _ was everything that Aline could think about now.

  
  


********** 

**The Ball Evening**

**Alines Pov**

Aline and the others already arrived. 

Izzy and Clary went off with Jace and Simon. They already wanted to go inside and Jace wanted to pull the old ‘Let's put alcohol in the punch’-trick. 

Alec and Aline walked hand in hand to her locker. 

No one was there yet so Alec turned to Aline.

“I want you to know I’m here for you.” Alec said and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“This won’t be easy that is true but I know you can do this and if H doesn’t show up then that’s ok too, there are so many ladies who will try to win your heart.” Alec smiled, he tried giving Aline a good motivational talk to make her feel better though Aline’s face didn’t look like she was really happy. 

“Aline listen.” he started but he stopped as both heard Magnus voice.

“It’ll be ok.” he whispered. 

“Take your time, take a deep breath and go there when you’re ready. I’ll be there when you need me” he said and walked around the corner towards them.

He smiled. “Alec I think it’s time for us to step aside.” 

Alec nodded and took his boyfriends hand. They gave Aline a thumbs up and walked into one of the class rooms.

Aline took a deep breath, this is it. H is there around the corner. 

H was either the person that would hopefully make her happy or it would be the one who would break her heart. 

“I know you’re scared..” she said. “I am too. Trust me I’m actually trying very hard to hold together.” she let out a sigh.

She could hear H taking a deep breath. 

And then, she appeared and Aline felt like her legs wouldn’t survive this moment and neither would her heart. 

A tall woman stepped out behind the corner. Curly silver blond hair falling over her shoulders. 

Blue green eyes sparkling bright in the light like a thousand stars on the night sky.

She moved gracefully, her hips swung in a hypnotic way and for Aline this whole moment felt like it was playing in slow motion. 

She was absolutely beautiful, dressed in a slight elegant black suit, which complimented her beautiful curves, a blue shirt was beneath the jacket. 

Elegant black boots with blue shoelaces made her even taller and a gorgeous small silver hair clip in form of a moon was placed in her hair, holding one side of her hair back to prevent it from falling into her face. 

There she was,  **H** . 

The person she waited to reveal herself for so long. And she was the most beautiful woman Aline had ever seen. 

“H..”Aline said, her mouth half open.

“H - Helen..” the girl said, giving her a shy smile.

Aline felt like she lost the ability to talk. 

“Helen.” she simply said.

They both remained in silence for awhile and they could hear Magnus and Alec whisper in the room.

“Is it going well? What are they saying? Did Helen come out yet? - “Shh I can’t hear anything if you keep talking!” Alec said at last and then it was quiet again. 

Aline took a deep breath. 

“ _ You got this.” _ she told herself and slowly started talking.

“So you are the one who sent me those beautiful poems. You wrote them yourself?” she asked.

Helen nodded, fumbling around her jacket.

“Why did you stop for a short time?” she blurted out, she wanted to ask something different but her mind just kept racing.

“I saw you were taken.. so I stopped.” Helen answered. “But I decided to keep going because I thought it would make you happy and help myself with my feelings.” 

Aline nodded. 

“I understand. Say, have we met before?” 

“Yes many years ago we were in a class once..” she answered.

Aline nodded. “You were the one behind the tree too? The one Magnus sat with in the ice cream shop and the one who laid on the bed when the young boy walked in?” she asked. “He called you Leni?” she smirked. 

“Yes..” Helen said. “I was also at one of the basketball games where it started to rain..” she spoke quietly. “I was the one placing a umbrella there for you.” she smiled. “Also yes Tavvy gave me that nickname.” she let out a small laugh thinking about baby Tavvy for a short moment before her eyes focused back on Aline.

“It’s cute.” the smaller girl said. 

“Thank you Ali” the taller woman grinned as she saw the shocked impression on the smaller woman’s face. 

“What no!” she gasped. “Who told you that name?!” she said.

“Magnus. He told me a lot about you.” Helen grinned.

“Magnus..” Aline muttered. ”I’m going to kill you..”

Aline was quiet for a short time. “Why did you never talk to me before?” she knew this was a stupid question. Everything she asked felt stupid to her, she had prepared some questions but as soon as she saw Helen she forgot them all and her brain was too busy screaming over the beauty of the woman in front of her.

“I was too scared, I wasn’t brave enough. It was easier to just hide behind my poems and try to make you smile like this.” Helen mumbled.

Slowly Aline took a few steps towards her. “You know it was definitely not easy to get any kind of clue about you, except just this one little thing. The nice smell, it filled my nose when you were sitting behind the tree and at your home. Which makes sense, it was you behind the tree right?” Aline laughed nervously and stopped in front of her.

“Is that so..” Helen looked at her with curious eyes. “And yes it was me.”

She had to look up slightly, Helen was taller than her but Aline didn’t mind at all. She gave her a bright smile.

“Thank you. Thank you for these poems, thank you for making me smile every time with them. It helped myself to figure out who I was, it showed me so much happiness and I can’t tell you how happy I am that you had the courage to come here tonight.” without even knowing, Aline took Helen’s hand in her own. 

Helen was silent at first but then gave Aline a beautiful smile, which made the smaller woman feel like she melts away any moment.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner. It makes me happy to know that I helped you and made you happy with them. I..” she stopped, inhaled and exhaled slowly before continuing. “I meant every word in there.” 

They looked at each other and shared another moment of silence. 

Aline felt how Helen’s eyes wandered over her slowly. 

The beautiful dark green dress fit perfectly, the shoes sparkled and Aline’s raven black hair was braided and a silver dragon brooch was holding it together.

“I’m glad you did and just so you know, you look so beautiful and I mean not just your suit, which makes you even more sexier so you know, but you’re like the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and I don’t know why I said this all out loud.” Aline rambled and her cheeks turned bright red, but so did Helen’s and she chuckled. “Thank you, but you look absolutely amazing and beautiful too Aline.” 

Aline could swear if it was possible for a human to get a red head like a tomato she would have one now and if her mind wouldn’t force her to stand she would’ve melted away, turning herself in a big puddle of goo. 

“Are they talking?” - “Magnus I swear if you aren’t quiet now!” they both heard and stared at the door. 

Helen laughed and Aline joined her. 

“I’m sorry for his behavior.” Helen said. 

“Magnus’s behavior? Trust me he has always been like that.” Aline said. “I would like to know more about you Helen, if that’s what you want too.” 

“I’d like that yes.” she smiled. “I have a few questions about things Magnus told me.” giving her a wide grin. Aline’s world turned around, she never thought a single woman would be able to make her feel like this. Someone she didn’t know yet made her feel like she was meant to be with her. And she also made a self note to slap Magnus for probably telling Helen embarrassing things about her but also to give him a hug for helping her and Helen to find each other. 

“He never said anything about you unless the time he thought he lost you. Alec also never mentioned you.” Aline said a bit lost in thoughts as she remembered his panicked expression.

“I told both to not tell you anything otherwise I threatened them to pulverize them like burned toast.” Helen laughed.

Aline giggled. “I wouldn’t say anything then either.” she smiled widely at Helen. 

Aline kept holding her hand, looking up in fascination and without even thinking she pressed her lips against Helen’s.

It was more a slight brush against her lips but enough to taste the taller woman’s lip gloss. 

Aline stepped backwards, letting go of Helen’s hand.

“I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to, I mean I did but I wanted to ask and I mean we just met but I just I thought you know and the feelings and I -“ Aline rambled even more uncontrollably and Helen saw the tears. Aline’s fear of scaring Helen off was big, she didn’t want to mess it up. She told Alec while driving to school she wouldl try to be as calm and professional as she could, well clearly she failed there. 

Before Aline could keep on babbling more and more, Helen interrupted the smaller woman by pulling her close again, kissing her deeply. 

The kiss felt like pure magic, soft lips pressing against each other, clumsy hands finding each others neck and shoulders and lips parting and pressing back against each other over and over again.

The sensation filled Aline’s body with warmth and happiness, her legs kept shaking and her mind kept racing but she wanted more. Intoxicated by the kiss, she let out a small groan. 

Helen’s lips were soft and tasted like strawberry. Aline let out a small whimper as they left her mouth. 

They both breathed heavily, Aline smiled widely and looked deep into Helen’s eyes. They were so beautiful, like a warm summer night in the forest, tree’s sparkling under the night sky and glowing in bright green colors while the deep blue sky gave them the perfect background. 

“Go out with me, like a real date..” Helen asked her suddenly before pressing a gentle kiss on Aline’s cheek.

Aline nodded. “Yes, yes that sounds perfect. We can go see a movie and get dinner, or we go into the park, or we go into the town museum or maybe we spend a weekend at the beach next town for the festival!? Wait no this is definitely not really romantic at all. I will read more books and learn more about this to make it way more poetic and romantic, I promise!” Aline said and grabbed Helen’s hands. “I’m sorry” she mumbled.

“You kidding? I liked that.” Helen said, squeezing Aline’s hands softly. 

“But let’s start with a date in the park.” she smiled and Aline nodded and her whole face lit up with a bright smile. 

“Can I be honest?” she asked Helen, who nodded as answer.

“Can.. we skip the ball?” Aline stared down on their hands. “I don’t want to push you, I understand if you want to take it slow and part now and meet for our date.” she tried to sound casual but her voice showed more sadness than it should have. 

“Let’s skip it.” Helen said. “I have my brother’s car keys.”

Aline didn’t need to hear more, she dragged Helen out of the school, stopping here and there to share gentle kisses. Helen pressed small kisses on her cheeks, her nose and her jaw and Aline giggled happily. 

When they finally made it outside and found Magnus’s parked car, they eagerly crawled into the backseat.

Aline laid halfway on top of Helen. 

They kissed, holding each other tight. Neither of them thought the evening would end like this but they would never complain about it.

Each kiss was tender, loving and full of desire. Their lips met halfway and it felt like it was all meant to be. 

Each touch, each kiss and each breath was shared. Neither dared to let go. 

“Thank you for showing up..” Aline said between kisses.

“Thank you for not running away.” Helen chuckled.

“I’d be a fool to run away from a pure angel.” Aline cupped Helen’s face and kissed her deeply. 

They pressed against each other, holding onto each other and Aline inhaled the sweet fragrance of Helen that always kept lingering around her.

The aroma that made her wonder for so long who her admirer was, who the person was who made her happy with such small things and the person she hoped will never let go of her ever again. 

So she took a deep breath, to enjoy the familiar warmth and scent. 

The scent of chocolate and roses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End..? 
> 
> Comments & Kudo's appreciated <3


	6. Bonus Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised a little smut chapter! It is actually the first time I wrote smut so I hope you all like it and go easy on me :)   
> Thank you all so much for staying with me and reading my fanfiction <3 I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it ! 
> 
> Thank you <3

**_An Angels Kiss_   
**

Helen didn’t know how long they remained like this in the car, all she knew was that her mind felt dizzy and it got warmer each second they intensified their kisses. 

Aline’s hand wandered over her chest and her own slowly slid down Aline’s back.

She felt herself getting impatient and gently tugged on Aline’s dress, who let out a small moan which quickly got swallowed by another kiss from Helen. 

“Wait..” Helen whispered against Aline’s lips, panting breathlessly. “Magnus would murder us if we go further in his new car.” 

Aline stared at Helen for a few moments.

“Yours or mine?” she asked eagerly. Aline had already pulled off Helen’s jacket and ripped open her shirt. Helen’s chest was bare, she hadn’t worn a bra tonight and she saw how Aline’s eyes lit up the moment she saw it. 

“My siblings could come in..” Helen muttered, she wanted to kiss Aline again but she already squished herself into the driver's seat.

Helen followed her and let herself sink into the passenger's seat, fumbling out the keys and handing them to Aline who immediately started the car.   
She wrote a quick text message to Magnus that he had to drive home with the others. 

Luckily there wasn’t much traffic on their way home, but instead they hit a number of red lights. At each one, Aline leaned over and kissed Helen.

The blonde woman let her hand slide down Aline’s inner thigh, she felt the heat coming from Aline, causing her to let out a small gasp before leaning in to kiss her again.

Unfortunately at one stop, they didn’t pay attention and ignored the traffic light which had already turned green. 

After someone honked at them from behind, they continued their way home. 

As they finally arrived at Aline’s house, which felt like a whole world tour for them, they crawled out of the car. 

Aline and Helen both stopped when the door swung open.

Helen quickly held her shirt together to cover her bare chest and Aline turned bright red as she stuttered. “M-Mom.” 

Aline’s mother first looked like she would faint until her lips curled into a smile. She stepped aside and Aline didn’t wait for her to say anything.

She grabbed Helen by the hand and dragged her inside. “Helen - Jia - Mom - Helen.” she just said as they passed Jia. 

Helen didn’t have a chance to say anything before Aline pushed her upstair.

“Sorry,” she muttered against Helen’s lips. 

Helen just shook her head, pressed Aline against the closed door and let her hand hover over the warm soft skin. 

“Is this ok?” she muttered against the black haired girl, shoving her dress up.

“Yes - yes!” Aline caught Helen’s lips, eagerly pressing her hips against Helen. 

Helen picked Aline up, carrying her to bed. 

She gently placed her down, straddling her. 

The dress got shoved upwards completely, Helen gave her a wide smile as she saw Aline’s underwear.

“Space meow?” she grinned. There were tiny kittens with laser eyes in space and ‘space meow’ was written in big white letters. 

Aline’s face turned red and she wanted to cover them but Helen caught her hands and held them above Aline’s head. 

“Fits to you,” she placed a kiss on her neck, nibbling on it slightly before letting her hand wander over the thin fabric. 

“Please..” Aline let out small whimpers and moans. 

Helen relesed Aline’s hands, letting them hover over the beautiful smooth skin, over her hair, her chest, before tugging on the waistband of Aline’s panties. She looked at her and Aline nodded.

Slowly Helen pulled them down. She leaned up for another hungry kiss, before she kissed her way down.

She stopped halfway to pull down the dress, revealing Aline's beautiful perky boobs. 

Helen placed soft kisses on them before gently sucking and nibbling on one of her nipples.

Aline squirmed beneath her, the smaller woman’s body fit perfectly against Helen’s as she buckled against each touch of the woman on top of her.

“Helen..” she breathed heavily, one hand in Helen’s hair and one digging into her mattress. 

Helen looked up with sparkling eyes, smiling and her fingers teased her sweet spot.

They moved together, pressed against each other, melting together as if their bodies were always meant for this, while sharing hot kisses, moans getting swallowed by each thrust and kiss. 

Aline squirmed, whined and begged until a loud moan escaped her lips, which died down with a small gasp and then she let herself sink into the mattress. 

Helen peppered Aline’s face with kisses, letting her hand gently run through the soft silky black hair. 

They remained like this for a little while before Helen got up. Aline looked at her. “Do.. do you want to leave?” she said and Helen could hear the sadness.

She chuckled. “No but I want to get rid of my clothes.” 

Helen undressed and she felt Aline’s look burning on her skin. She made sure to undress slowly, so Aline could enjoy it. 

Left in only a nice pair of red lace underwear, she turned to Aline, who had sat up.

“Arms up.” she demanded, Aline obeyed and in seconds her dress was gone and she was left completely naked. 

“I want to..” Aline started. “I mean.. can I touch you?” 

Helen captured her lips and kissed her. The kiss was filled with love and desire. “Yes..” she said quietly.

Aline didn’t need to hear that twice. She softly pressed Helen down onto the mattress, her hands sliding over the warm skin. 

For Helen each touch felt like pure fire. 

Aline smiled, letting her fingers run over the thin elegant fabric of the remaining cloth on Helen’s body.

She kissed her way down, everytime her lips met Helen’s skin, the blonde woman’s body bent against her to get back the gentle lips on her skin. 

Aline didn’t hesitate to pull off the last remaining piece of clothing. 

She placed hot kisses on Helen’s inner thighs, letting her hands trail over Helen’s legs. 

Helen let out a small gasp as she felt Aline let her tongue slide over her entrance and her swollen nub. 

Aline placed soft kisses around her center before she finally put the right pressure on the right spot. 

Helen leaned into her touch, moaning as she felt two fingers enter her. She moved against Aline, they became one in a perfect rhythm. 

Her one hand clawed into Aline’s mattress and the other one grabbed Aline’s free hand, tangling their fingers together. 

She moved and moved and her heart beat got faster each time Aline thrust back inside her. 

The moon light fell through the window and let their shadows dance on the walls.

Helen felt as if her heart would explode any second, with one last gentle lick and thrust, Aline sent her over the edge.

She took a sharp breath, holding Aline’s hand tight, her center pressed against Aline and she moaned her name loudly before her limbs went numb and she fell back into the mattress, letting out a satisfied sigh. 

Aline placed a few more small kisses on Helen's skin before she laid down next to her.    
She had her eyes closed but Helen could feel loving eyes looking at her. 

She opened her eyes, looking deep into a pair of hazelnut brown eyes. She gently tucked a few hair strands out of Aline’s face since the brooch fell out and let loose her once braided hair.

Helen smiled at her, her hand cupping her face and letting a thumb caress over Aline’s beautiful cheekbone. 

She looked at Helen with sleepy eyes and a pleased smile on her flawless lips.

Everything was perfect on her in Helen’s eyes.

“Let me hold you,” Helen whispered softly and Aline shifted, she moved closer and settled in Helen’s arms. 

Helen thanked all the angels for this moment.

“And many more beautiful moments,” she mumbled against Aline’s hair, placing a slight kiss on it. 

Aline hummed softly in response. 

They both remained like this and drifted off in a peaceful sleep. 

Helen felt home and safe, loved and happy. 

**_The angelic princess and fairy princess finally found their way to each other._ **


End file.
